From the guide book: "Storkyrkan was first mentioned in a written source dated 1279, and became a Lutheran Protestant church in 1527. The parish church since the Middle Ages of the Nikolai parish, covering the whole island on which the Old Town stands, it has also been the cathedral of Stockholm since the Diocese of Stockholm was broken out from the Archdiocese of Uppsala and the Diocese of Strängnäs in 1942. The last Swedish king to be crowned here was Oscar II in 1873."
Jason and I like to play a little game I call "What's the oldest thing I have ever seen (or in some cases touched)?" Although we stumbled upon it by accident, this church certainly ranks high on the oldest list. Usually, when we tour churches or landmarks, there is always a note, this church was built in such and such year, but there has been a church on this site since 1187. BUt that's kind of misleading, because the church you are actually standing in is much newer than that. Of course, its all relative, because by new it might have been built in 1789. So, you never know. Either way, this church still tops the list.
This statue is also on that list. Commissioned in 1489 to commemorate the Battle of Brunkeberg. Its a statue of Stain George and the Dragon. It is clearly the focus of the church, and worth the little crowd always admiring it. If you are interested there are a number of pictures of it on the internet -- Jason's pictures are good, but the lighting was low for preservation, so they don't do the statue complete justice!
This is a picture of the pulpit. There is no historical blurb for me to repeat here. But I liked it. Apparently so did Jason, because I found this picture of it on the camera!
Dear readers, if you are a faithful blog reader of mine, you know I like organs. The music is lovely, true, but I also love how grand and beautiful they all tend to be. Even in the simplest of churches there is always a gorgeous organ. So Jason was sweet enough to capture this one for me!!
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